Trying Linux on Samsung NC10 Netbook?

THX758

I have a laptop at the moment running window 7, I do not intend to move to windows 10 any time in the future.
I will probably buy a Mac when window 7 stop being supported, but in the mean time I would like to try Linux.
I have an old Samsung NC10 Netbook with window XP which is doing nothing at the moment, so I intend to try Linux on it.
My eyes are on Linux cinnamon Mint, but I am not sure my netbook is powerful enough to run it.
Basically, I will use the Netbook as a learning tool until I feel confident enough to dual boot my main laptop or replace window 7 with Linux.
Will my NC10 Netbook be able to run Linux Mint, or should I chose another distro for my netbook?

HappySeagull

I run Linux Mint on my NC20. Since installing an SSD, it's the only operating system that seems to work! That said, it doesn't reconnect to the network after hibernating, but a reboot is pretty quick.

Gillor

I am running Linux Lite on an NC10 and it works just fine as direct replacement for XP.

Take a look here for a detailed review.

esuhl

I'm running Arch Linux on an Asus EEE 901 netbook and it's sooo much faster than Windows XP was.

I use the XFCE desktop environment as it's lightweight (and easy to use), so I'd definitely recommend looking at that.

henm2

Be careful choosing a linux distro for a netbook. It needs to be light. Cinnamon would be too heavy for it. The ideal Linux OS for a netbook is Linux Mint 17.3 xfce edition 32 bit and this will be excellent. Much better than using windows as it will perform smoothly and is much more secure.
For a good review see this
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-mint-rosa-xfce.html where it is described as 'absolutely fantastic'.

Kernel_Sanders

henm2 wrote: »

Be careful choosing a linux distro for a netbook. It needs to be light. Cinnamon would be too heavy for it..

Really? I'm running Ubuntu 12.10 on an Asus Eee, 1GB RAM with 1.66Ghz single core Atom. Doesn't seem to be any slower than XP was.

THX758

Thank you for your suggestions.
I will pass on arch Linux for now, as I do not know enough about Linux to start customising my own distro.
I will look into the Lite and Mint 17.3 xfce edition 32 bit for my netbook, I will not risk Cinnamon on it.
Cinnamon will be more for my Laptop. Another thing I need to know is, if I partition my hard drive to dual boot, how much space do I need to accommodate Cinnamon Mint?

londonTiger

ahh the nc20, one of my most favourite netbooks. Only really usable netbook out there. I gave it away eventually as the I couldn't use it as my daily ultra portable and got a ul30a which I have to this day.

The nc20 was really well built and was actully fit for purpose as a laptop unlike the others.

NiftyDigits

THX758 wrote: »

I have a laptop at the moment running window 7, I do not intend to move to windows 10 any time in the future.
I will probably buy a Mac when window 7 stop being supported, but in the mean time I would like to try Linux.
I have an old Samsung NC10 Netbook with window XP which is doing nothing at the moment, so I intend to try Linux on it.
My eyes are on Linux cinnamon Mint, but I am not sure my netbook is powerful enough to run it.
Basically, I will use the Netbook as a learning tool until I feel confident enough to dual boot my main laptop or replace window 7 with Linux.
Will my NC10 Netbook be able to run Linux Mint, or should I chose another distro for my netbook?

Have you installed the latest BIOS?

If not, you should.

Here, along with suitable Drivers if you want to make sure that the source is untainted.

The Netbook can run Windows 7 easily enough, so shouldn't have an issue with most Linux distributions. But you should upgrade the RAM to 2GB if you have not already done so. Will take around five minutes and cost you £10.

Instructions

RAM here

You can dual boot Windows 7 with the Linux version of your choice or you can upgrade the Netbook for free to Windows 10 and use the Netbook to try the OS out. You can reinstall Windows 7 at any time.

henm2

As NiftyDigits says you can dual boot with Windows. On my Acer Aspire One D260 I used to dual boot windows 7 with linux , usually Mint sometimes LXLE. (I later got rid of the windows side).
Windows 7 or 10 will be fine.
Install Windows first. Then when installing say Linux Mint 17.3 xfce you will be prompted in the easy installation process as to whether you want to install 'side by side with Windows' and given the option as to how much space you want to allocate to both. I used to give half the available space to windows.
Don't worry about partitions unless you have particular requirements. Just follow the default prompts when installing Linux.
If you do have particular requirements re partitions I usually use a tool called Gparted to do the partitioning first.

prowla

I'd take out its original disk with XP and set that to one side should I need to go back, and then put in a bigger disk or SSD for the new Linux; why bother with booting into XP?